


Thinking of the future

by twijfelaar



Category: The Shannara Chronicles (TV Show)
Genre: First comes friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-10
Updated: 2016-01-10
Packaged: 2018-05-13 01:29:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5689348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twijfelaar/pseuds/twijfelaar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eretria hates elves, hates magic, hates the princess, hates the wannabe druid. Now they want her to tag along to save the world from destruction. Too bad they have her shackled, too bad she wants nothing to do with this so called quest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Thinking of the future

**Author's Note:**

> After ep 4 when the group goes to find that one friend. The beginning of the journey and maybe even a friendship between Eretria and Amberle.

Eretria recognizes that she got herself in a shitty position, however she has actually felt worse. Experienced worse and if these elves think that having her in chains, with the pet guards pulling her forward, is going to break her spirit she has something coming for them. She walks at the back while the princess and pretty boy sit on their high horses talking about a quest to save the world and Eretria wants to gag. Fucking elves and their feelings of grandeur, she hates every single one of them.

They are suddenly being threatened by a powerful enemy and suddenly the world is ending. To save the world they have to send 2 shitty teenagers to complete a quest and for some fucking reason Eretria has to tag along because of visions. She hates magic, she hates elves and she hates this fucking world and the fucking shitty position she is in.

At least they feed her, Eretria eyes the food with unease. The amount of times she used the O-of-course-I-will-share-my-food-with-you plan to rob someone blind, is simply too many times to count. She has however no fucking clue what they would want from her, except to maybe slit her throat in her sleep. She seen the guards look.

“We actually threat our guests with hospitality. I can assure you, the food is safe.”

Off fucking course princess decides to start talking to her now.

“Really, and what are these. Some very nice bracelets?”

She holds her hands up and shakes the chains.

“I gave you a very nice bracelet but I see you sold it already. Those are so you won’t run away. I don’t know why but you are supposed to be part of this quest and I will drag you with us kicking and screaming if I have too.”

Princess seems just as unhappy with the arrangements as her and Eretria is kind of glad. Wil is eyeing them with a look Eretria can’t decipher. She smirks in his direction and she can see his ears turn red and he looks back at his food. Princess looks back and sees the red ears and she turns her face back to Eretria.

“If you want to be able to keep up tomorrow I suggest you eat. I will drag you if need be.”

She has the guts to smile and Eretria has taken worse for less but this feels like a different kind of defeat. Still the princess does make sense and she is not going to leave good food to go to waste. So she clumsily grabs the bread in front of her and tears a piece off with her teeth, chewing loudly, smacking her lips and grinning with half the bread still in her mouth, stuck in her teeth.

“Don’t worry princess even if I did not eat I would be able to keep up with the nice and easy pace you got going. I’ve had worse.”

And she decides to screw with every single fucking elf in the vicinity, they are all eating from plates acting like they are not in the middle of nowhere eating food while sitting in wet grass. So she grabs the meat with her hands as well and rips a part of. She can feel the looks, cutlery stopping half way too watch her with disgust. The princess looks harden and then Eretria hears it, softly for no one to hear, but Eretria does.

“Animals.”

Eretria hates fucking elves.

They make camp in a clearing and they tie her around a tree trunk so the guards can guard the camp and not worry about her running off. The air feels warm and humidity sticks to her skin. One of the guards mentions that it is going to rain and since then she has been watching these castle born creatures trying to make a camp that will keep them dry. This is better entertainment than the fights at her father’s camp.

One of the royals does know something but princess and pretty boy are pretty useless. Eretria has her cloak which she made herself, it will keep her dry for the night. She is close to the tree so it will take a while for the water to hit her directly. Eretria is good for the night. The elves are not and Eretria can’t help but laugh at their attempts.

Princess has the guts to look pissed into her direction but Eretria lives for moments like this. Pretty boy just puts his hand on the princesses arm but she looks mad at that as well and rips her arm away. Her uncle realizing his niece is starting to lose control, walks up towards her, put his hand on her shoulder and whispers something in her ear.

Eretria has stopped laughing and is watching the exchange with interest. The uncle, clearly the leader of this group is not reacting as Eretria thought he would. Her father would have hit her in the face, with his fist if she ever acted like that. In fact, she did act like that. The first few weeks, when she was still learning all the rules.

Princess comes closer with an air of defeat around her and Eretria quickly snaps out of her thoughts and tries to look triumphantly. The memory she rattled up for no fucking reason however is affecting her more than she thought her face fails and the princess stops a few meters away from her.

“My uncle believes you could help with setting up camp.”

She looks at the group of men failing to put up the tent and raises an eyebrow.

“I could yeah.”

They stare at each other not saying anything and Eretria breaks the silence because one of the guards actually managed to hit pretty boy in the face.

“What am I getting back?”

Princess looks livid and for a moment Eretria actually believes princess might hit her.

“Princess, I am a Rover. I don’t do anything for free. What do you have to offer?”

“You can sleep in the camp.”

Eretria rattles her shackles a bit.

“Those stay.”

“Princess, if you want to get anywhere in this world you need to realize titles don’t do shit here. No one is going to do something just because you ask them nice. You gotta learn how to compromise. Good luck, I am going to sleep.”

And that is what Eretria does, just before she falls asleep she can hear water hitting the leaves above her. She can hear the elves murmur and Eretria falls asleep with a grin.

She sleeps well, her cloak keeping her warm and dry, the chains actually keeping her in place so she doesn’t wake up with a kink in her neck. She however does get woken by being kicked against her foot. She wants to grab her knife but she can’t move her arms and Eretria panics for a bit. When she opens her eyes to look at her attacker she sees the elf guard standing above her.

“Time to eat.”

It is way too early to fuck with anyone so when Eretria is lead to the camp like a fucking dog she just goes with it. Walking loosens her muscles and she still feels sleepy. The guard pushes her towards the ground and Eretria plops down and stares ahead of her. She was never much of a morning person.

She gets another piece of bread and some juice and she slowly consumes both, trying very hard not to fall asleep again. Her father would have dumped her in the nearest river by now but the elves leave her be and she is content with that.

The uncle is talking to princess again and while she does not hear them she does get the feeling the conversation is about her. They keep looking at her and the uncle is smiling and princess is rolling her eyes and Eretria just wants to eat.

Eretria is concentrating on her food when she feels someone sitting next to her.

“The name is Ander.”

She just wants to eat her food in peace.

“Great name, I hope you are very proud of it.”

He seems unaffected by her words and Eretria really just wants to eat her food.

“So you are going on a quest with my niece and the apprentice and while I am sure you can handle yourself even with your hands tied together. It might be safer for everyone if we could untie you.”

Now Eretria is listening, because while she has walked long miles like this before if she doesn’t have to, she will go for that any time.

“I am listening.”

He smiles at her, and he actually seems sort of nice. For an elf at least.

“You get your hands untied and you will stay with the group. You will not run. If you do run you will be tied up again with no probability to be untied. Ever.”

She looks him in the eye and she sees he means every word. She smirks at him. This just means that when she runs she needs to stay away from elves forever. Which is great because she has had enough of them already.

“Seems like we have a deal Ander.”

He seems pleased and grabs a key to unlock the lock on her wrist. The chains fall on the ground and Eretria has to suppress every instinct in her body to run the moment the chains fall in a heap on the ground. Ander picks them up.

“I hope I won’t have to use them again Eretria, but I am keeping them with me. Just in case.”

He gives them to a guard who puts them away and Eretria slowly rubs her wrists to get rid of the ache that has formed there.

“Next time you build camp try to dig ditches around the tent so the water will not gather underneath the it!”

He is already walking away when she yells it at him and he turns around with a smile on his face.

“I will remember that!”

Eating breakfast while her wrist are untied and with princess throwing murderous glances her way is the best feeling she had ever since she got involved with elves.

They continue to travel to this mysterious friend that will help them with their quest. Eretria is dry but her companions were not that lucky during the night and she feels good about it. She knows that with the warm weather their clothes will be dried before the sun is at its highest point but still knowing they are somewhat uncomfortable gives her satisfaction. Enough for her to start whistling which seems to piss of the princess even more. Which only makes her continue till her lips are dried out.

Eretria once mentions that if everyone had a horse the journey would go much faster but princess let’s her know with a resolute “No.” that that is not going to happen. How they will continue their travels after knowing where they should go is still a mystery, but it is one Eretria is not worried about. She plans to be gone by then.

Their slow moving group stops a few times a day and every time they stop Wil doesn’t know what he should do. He always makes this move towards the princess but she turns away from him, the rest of the group is boring so that is the entertainment Eretria has on the road.

She is surprised they haven’t run into any Rovers yet, by now every clan should know that there is royalty blundering through the forest. Ready to be ambushed and robbed blind, but their journey has been surprisingly quiet. While Eretria is glad she is not running into any rival gangs, she does wonder why her father hasn’t come by now. While she is deep in thought princess comes walking her way and stands before her.

Eretria looks up and they stare at each other for a while.

In the end princess lets out a puff of air and dumps herself next to her.

“So we are going to finish this quest together. For that to work we need to get along. Or at least try. For the sake of the world.”

“Really princess, this is really big from you. I mean how could it be possible to not like you. I bet you never had that happen to you before.”

“We could start by calling each other by our names.”

Princess holds out her hand.

“Amberle.”

Eretria looks at it, and suddenly feels the need to actually try to get along. She does not know why, it might be the way princess is looking at her. There is so much hope and naivety in her stare. If she really is supposed to save the world from darkness, it is going to be an epic failure. The naïve never survive long in the wild.

A plan starts to form in her head. She could go on the quest, maybe even become friends. She might be able to get a room at the palace out of it. If she plays her cards right. She needs to be done being childish she has her future to think about after all. A future away from her father, in a palace, with servants!

Eretria grabs the hand and holds it firm.

“Eretria.”

The smile Amberle gives her is bright and full of hope and Eretria is again reminded how naïve this girl is. Both pretty boy and Amberle are lucky to have her on this quest. They wouldn’t survive 3 days in the wilderness without her.


End file.
